Advent: 24 Days to Go
The adventure of Christmas continues with the law and with grace. If God had never given His law, we would never have realized how much we needed His grace...
14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
--John 1:14-18 KJV Bible
Through God’s law, we understood that someone had to pay the price for sin. And then the Word became flesh. Though Christ was God from all eternity, He joined Himself to humanity. He was God and He was also human, though without our sin. Christ came to fulfill the law. For only a human could suffer and die. And only God could make that death an effective payment for sin.
Grace: The unmerited favor of God. Noah experienced it (Genesis 6:8). Moses did as well (Exodus 34:6). And Jeremiah recalled the past grace of God (Jeremiah 31:3). But as the Apostle Paul wrote, the grace seen in the Old Testament was a mere spark compared to the grace that appeared when the Word became flesh (Titus 2:11). God’s grace is the basis of our salvation (Ephesians 1:7), our justification (Romans 3:24), our election (Romans 11:5-6), our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and our spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6). To those who believe, that grace is piled upon grace.
As Jesus said Himself, God is Spirit (John 4:24). No one had ever seen the essence of God. Yet in the Old Testament, He assumed a visible form to some. Jacob saw God (Genesis 32:30). Moses and others saw Him (Exodus 24:9-10). Manoah (Judges 13:22), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1), and even Daniel saw God (Daniel 7:9). But in Jesus Christ all people could see God (John 14:8-9). Christ gives life, reveals and gives grace and truth.
Tomorrow, we will learn more about the adventure of God’s witness, John...
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14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
15 John bare witness of him, and cried, saying, This was he of whom I spake, He that cometh after me is preferred before me: for he was before me.
16 And of his fulness have all we received, and grace for grace.
17 For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.
18 No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.
--John 1:14-18 KJV Bible
Through God’s law, we understood that someone had to pay the price for sin. And then the Word became flesh. Though Christ was God from all eternity, He joined Himself to humanity. He was God and He was also human, though without our sin. Christ came to fulfill the law. For only a human could suffer and die. And only God could make that death an effective payment for sin.
Grace: The unmerited favor of God. Noah experienced it (Genesis 6:8). Moses did as well (Exodus 34:6). And Jeremiah recalled the past grace of God (Jeremiah 31:3). But as the Apostle Paul wrote, the grace seen in the Old Testament was a mere spark compared to the grace that appeared when the Word became flesh (Titus 2:11). God’s grace is the basis of our salvation (Ephesians 1:7), our justification (Romans 3:24), our election (Romans 11:5-6), our faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), and our spiritual gifts (Romans 12:6). To those who believe, that grace is piled upon grace.
As Jesus said Himself, God is Spirit (John 4:24). No one had ever seen the essence of God. Yet in the Old Testament, He assumed a visible form to some. Jacob saw God (Genesis 32:30). Moses and others saw Him (Exodus 24:9-10). Manoah (Judges 13:22), Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1), and even Daniel saw God (Daniel 7:9). But in Jesus Christ all people could see God (John 14:8-9). Christ gives life, reveals and gives grace and truth.
Tomorrow, we will learn more about the adventure of God’s witness, John...
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